10 Nov 09,
Well, I'm on my 3rd day of being in Devens, Mass. for Army training. I have to complete two weeks of Senior Leaders Course in order to hopefully get my promotion to 1SG. The weather so far has been beautiful with daytime temps in the 60's. This weekend we get to "research" the local area to include Boston and next week we are doing the Freedom Trail. I'm excited to see some of the history that made this country and knowing what sacrifices our founding fathers were ready and did make for us to be able to wake up free. My biggest problem getting adjusted to the Northeast is the fact that it's completely dark before 5 pm. Good grief. But really, if that's my biggest problem I guess things aren't that bad. If I'm close to any of my friends in the blog world, please let me know, I would love to say hi. Of course, it's up to you since I don't know where the heck I am. Be safe and have a great day.

04 November 09,

Well, today was the day. My little baby girl, who used to be cute and adorable turned 16 today. Happy Sweet 16 Miss Dub. As a father, I explained to her many birthdays ago, that it was my responsibility to embarrass her as much as possible, with unconditional love of course.

Last night we took her to our favorite Mexican restaurant where she was serenaded by the employees while standing on a chair wearing a sombrero.

We started her day with attempting to decorate her room this morning while she was sleeping and then woke her up with silly string in bed.

We took her to school and this afternoon when we picked her up we had shoe polished the vehicle and made her drive us home.


While she was at youth church we got the cake ready and at the end of services lit the candles and brought it in. Over all she seemed to have had a good day.

And this last picture is of her and her new "friend". I slipped into the background and decided to call this one "I'm always watching"

Be safe and have a great day.

Oct 26, 2009,
Has it been awhile? Mrs Dub has been on me to get this updated. In my mind, I certainly bit off a lot this fall. I finished the welding class and had fun, even if I'm not great at it, but I do know that with practice I will get better. And with 600 linear feet of fence to put up, I'm gonna get the practice. My online classes for regular school are still going on and it's a chore keeping up with them.
The family is good and we went to a Halloween party this last weekend. Miss Dub turns 16 in just under two weeks, yikes! Mrs. Dub is happy that I finally finished the bathroom, and it's 100% done minus any decor she wants to put up and the crown molding (which was an after thought anyway and shouldn't count against me). It turned out pretty good. As of right now, I'm suppose to head up to Mass. in November for more Army training but this one was only two weeks long and I'll be back before Thanksgiving.
I definitely need to get back in touch with everyone and see how you are doing. I hope all is well. Be safe and have a great day.

10 September 09,
Well, I relinquished my laptop to Best Buy in order to have some much needed repairs made. Of course, it was terrible timing, but then again, whens a good time to loose your computer? I'm just glad I took out the coverage on it.
Internet classes are in full swing, and I'd rather be sitting in a classroom. It's much easier to determine what is expected of you from an instructor standing in front of you. I received two letters last week stating I wasn't participating in the online class. I knew I had done the two assignments and sent my instructor an email and received a confirmation from him on the assignments, what was I missing? A one line sentence posted on the discussion board saying I had read and understood the course curriculum. Well, I got fixed and even had to have a chat with the school advisor about it. Oops.
Mrs. Dub has been home the last two days with a sore shoulder, neck and back. I wish there was something I could do to make it better.
Miss Dub is doing well in her sophomore year of high school so far. Support, support support, that's what she needs.
Well, it's almost time to head home from a part time job. Be safe and have a great day.

31 August 09,
First, Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife, Mrs Dub. Being a gentleman, I won't disclose how old she is now, but she certainly doesn't even come close to looking her age. She made it perfectly clear she didn't want a party, especially for such a monumental occasion. So, for once, I'm going to listen to her and not throw a party. Instead, I've been working to wrap up a some projects around the house.
The weather is absolutely gorgeous today and should be all week. We have had the windows opened since Friday night and I love it.
I have to go paint the ceiling in the bathroom now, then take two on-line tests for class. Be safe and have a great day.

22 August 09, Ah, it's been a busy last couple of weeks. Let's start with the auxiliary bicycle patrol. Last week we were riding along the river front and got to the end of the trail where we crossed over a bridge and was coming back down to continue the trail. We had to cross a pair of railroad tracks and as fate would have it two trains were making their way towards us. In a blink I was transported to the time of my youth, watching Evel Knievel doing death defying feats. I was energized and began racing my bicycle towards the crossing. The trains were only 75 to 100 feet away but I had to try. I crossed over feeling the adrenaline racing through my veins. The guy walking in front of the trains just laughed and waved.
I finally got enrolled in a welding class at one of the local Vo-techs and I also enrolled in 6 hours towards my bachelors. Mrs. Dub is hoping I still make time to get the projects around the house done. I think I should be able to as long as I don't goof off too much.
This will have to do for now, be safe and have a great day.

01 August 2009
A day outside. Today we spent most of the day working on the land. The farrier came this morning and we got all the horses feet trimmed. Miss Dub's horse acted up and I ended up getting hit with a fence panel, luckily I didn't do any damage to the fence panel. We went into town and rented a tractor with a front end loader and a box blade. The City was clearing the ditches a month ago and I got a couple tons of dirt dropped in the yard to level out some spots. I saved almost $200 on buying dirt.
I moved dirt, moved the horse shed, level out the old turn out stall lanes, made a protective barrier around the brush pile, started a fire in the brush pile (this is always fun, fire good). I hope to finish up some more projects tomorrow after church. Mrs. Dub says she took some pictures and we'll get them posted tomorrow.
Be safe and have a great day.